This invention relates to a method and system for component provisioning and issuance associated with at least one of maintenance, repair, and overhaul of equipment.
In the prior art, a maintenance planning arrangement may identify a plan for the replacement of a potentially or actually defective component in advance of scheduled maintenance (e.g. maintenance, repair, and overhaul) of an item of equipment. The prior art maintenance planning arrangement may prepare a list of components (for an item of equipment) that are subject to scheduled maintenance. The selection of the list of components may be subject to variation because of any of the following: (1) a change in a configuration required for an item of equipment, (2) a change or update in any constituent component of an item of equipment, or (3) an unpredicted performance degradation of an item or its constituent components. Accordingly, the components that may be ordered or otherwise provided for scheduled maintenance may differ from the components that are actually required during a maintenance process (e.g., maintenance, repair or overhaul) for the item. As a result, in some circumstances, the group of components provided may be over-inclusive and the worker may end up replacing components that do not require replacement to achieve a desired reliability or performance goal for the equipment. In other cases, the group of components provided may be under-inclusive and may include too few components such that the equipment fails to meet a reliability goal. Thus, a need exists for a more robust and effective manner of selecting a group of components for performance of maintenance, repair, overhaul, or other related activities. A need also exists for introducing some standardization in the selection of components and in the ordering of components.
In accordance with the invention, a method for component provisioning or issuance supports the grouping of components to realize efficiencies in component provisioning. The method comprises identifying components for performance of at least one of maintenance, repair, and overhaul of an item of equipment. At least one kit of components is established for the item of equipment. The kit comprises a group of one or more components that is gathered to support the aggregation of installation activities or otherwise grouped to support integration of multiple maintenance tasks associated with at least one of maintenance, repair, and overhaul.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a data processing system supports preparation for the acquisition of the identified components. The identified components may be acquired consistent with the preparation (e.g., authorization). The acquired components may be dispersed or distributed in accordance with a metric (e.g., a measurable and traceable metric).